1.I know you can use kde or gnome using x11, can you use any linux program under x11?, do you have to build from source? What about compiz? (leopard should definately include compiz) 2. About the applications folder; can i move it to an exter

Moderator note: The rest of the question was truncated since it was submitted as the thread title.

1) OS X is not based on Linux -- it's based on another unix-esque branch called FreeBSD and also on other Unix variants. Also it does not use XFree86 or whatever, it uses the actual X11, as far as I know. It cannot run Linux compiled code unless you do something special, such as run Linux in Parallels. However, in the X11 environment, re-compilation of anything that was written for something similar to Unix + X11 will be fairly easy. Go look at the Fink project. This is basically a project to make a standardized system à la aptget to install and use X11 / Linux derivative apps on OS X.

2. Moving the applications folder can be done, but be careful not to confuse the computer. If you move it, you should really replace it in the root of the Mac HD with a symbolic link and then also enable ACL and use it to make sure permissions to the external folder are correctly granted.

1) Look up the fink project. The basic answer is that Linux binaries do not run in OS X, but Unix/X11 apps are easily ported. Fink is sort of like aptget or RPM for OS X.

2) You can, but be careful, and don't whine if you screw something up. If you do it, you should make a symbolic link to it in the original location and you should use ACL to make sure that permissions are correctly managed on the ext drive. Also the ext drive should be in a POSIX compliant format, ideally HFS+.

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